On the ... really appalling allegations about the telephone of Milly Dowler, if they are true this is a truly dreadful act in a truly dreadful situation. What I've read in the papers is quite, quite, shocking, that someone could do this actually knowing that the police were trying to find this person and trying to find out what had happened - and we all now know the tragedy that took place.
What I would say is that there is a police investigation into hacking allegations. The police in our country are quite rightly independent, they should feel that they should investigate this without any fear, without any favour, without any worry about where the evidence should lead them. They should pursue this in the most vigorous way that they can in order to get to the truth of what happened. I think that is the absolute priority in this police investigation.

Of course she should consider her position, but this goes well beyond one individual ... This was a systematic series of things that happened and what I want from executives at News International is people to start taking responsibility for this, people to start saying why that happened.
Members of the public up and down this country will be appalled by what has happened and they will say British journalism, known for its high standards, known for its history, has had one of its lowest days with these revelations. This is immoral, what was going on. This is truly immoral. My wife said to me this morning this is sick what was going on. I think that's going to be the reaction of people up and down the country. I think I have been pretty clear, throughout this process, both about the need for the police inquiry to take its course and then the need for a further review or inquiry to take place.

I'm sure we both speak on behalf of the whole House and the rest of the country in saying that if these allegations are true, this behaviour is simply beneath contempt. I mean, to hack into the phone of a missing child is grotesque and the suggestion that that might have given false hope to Milly's parents that she might have been alive only makes it all the more heart-rending.

The home secretary, Theresa May, to the home affairs committee

I think it's totally shocking, frankly it's disgusting. The mindset of somebody who thinks it's appropriate to do that is totally sick.

John Prescott, Labour peer and former deputy prime minister

In the light of recent admissions from Murdoch's News International that his News of the World paper illegally hacked people's phones and the allegation the Guardian that they may also have accessed Milly Dowler's mobile, I ask you as a matter of urgency to review this bid.
Since the secretary of state has said that he can only stop a takeover on the issue of plurality and competition, will you user your legal duties to assess whether Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation are fit and proper people to have outright ownership of BSkyB.

This was a heinous invasion into the Dowler family's privacy, at a time of ultimate grief and fear for their daughter. It moves phone hacking into a new league, it's now a very serious criminal matter. And certainly it involves more executives from New International.

Lib Dem deputy leader, Simon Hughes, said in a statement:

If proven, the accusation shows just how rotten and desperate an institution the newspaper had become under the leadership of Rebekah Brooks.
This practice was not just about gaining information from royals, politicians and others in the public eye. If proved, the allegation suggests that the News of the World was willing to interfere with the lives and emotions of people at their most vulnerable and to interfere with police enquiries. The Metropolitan police commissioner now has a duty to ensure that no stone is left unturned and every person who has been involved or suspected of involvement in the commissioning or sanctioning of these practices, directly or indirectly, should be investigated with the utmost vigour. Journalists and those working for them must now learn once and for all that they, like the rest of us, cannot be above the law.

Keith Vaz, Labour MP, in BBC news interview:

Obviously what has been uncovered, as the prime minister has said and Mr Miliband and others have said, is pretty shocking and I think we need to know who knew what when? What did they do about it? And how best they can ensure parliament and the public that this kind of activity is not continuing? Those are the kind of questions we need to ask.

Obviously all these allegations have to be investigated, but I say that the sooner we have a general truth and reconciliation commission of some kind, in which all the editors and all the proprietors who know fine well that their reporters were engaged in this kind of thing, come before the public and confess everything.

Alastair Campbell, former director of communications for Tony Blair, in ITV interview:

So far the newspapers have managed to make this as much about celebrities as the actual crime - I think this takes it to a completely different level. It's been interesting even talking to some of the photographers just now, the sense of absolute revulsion that anybody could have done this. It reveals - I'm not saying this goes right across the media - it reveals the capability for absolute amorality ... the idea that this is just going to go away, forget it.

The Press Complaints Commission said in a statement

The Press Complaints Commission has always been clear in its condemnation of phone hacking. The suggestion that people working for a newspaper listened to, and deleted the voice messages, of Milly Dowler will appal and concern everybody in equal measure.
The PCC is committed to ensuring that such practices are stamped out, and calls upon the newspaper and magazine industry to support its work further to ensure that this is the case. Of course, the PCC must work within the existing framework of laws and It is necessary to remember that there is already statutory regulation in the area of phone hacking in the form of the Computer Misuse Act and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. Those laws, which carry prison sentences and are enforceable through the police, did not stop the dreadful actions of certain individuals in the first part of this century. It is also wrong to judge self-regulation in 2011 based on the legitimate condemnation of practices that took place some time ago. It is right to use this terrible moment in British journalism as a catalyst to improve the reach and range of the PCC. We are committed to working with the industry, and politicians, to ensure that this can happen. At this point, it would not be correct for us to comment further. There is a live police investigation, which must be allowed to take its course and which is actively pursuing inquiries about these claims. Needless to say, we will be requiring News International to answer publicly in response to these allegations as soon as the police investigation will allow us to do so. Our Phone Hacking Review committee has the broadest remit to ensure that the public can have confidence that wrongdoing has been exposed and illegal and unethical practices have been stamped out.